Toby or not Toby

Dani, Sarajevo, Federation Bosnia-Hercegovina, B-H, August 31, 2001

Toby Robinson: Imposed administrator of the Hercegovacka Bank was after several months of silence forced by someone to say something. Courageously and radically entering the showdown with the bank she administers, Robinson stepped on the worn out path of her international mentors. Instead of finally publishing any sort of report about the extent of financial dependence of Croat nationalist on money deposited in the Hercegovacka Bank, the temporary administrator initiated the decisive showdown with janitors, till workers and other bank personnel. As many as 124 employees of the bank felt the wrath of the administrator receiving dismissal notices, all in the interest of bank's customers. However, that was not enough, so that in the interest of the investigation the temporary administrator reduced the salaries of those employees who after the layoffs were fortunate enough to keep their jobs. And while those advocating conspiracy theories are increasingly convincingly presenting arguments according to which the obscure role of the OHR in the audit of the privatization of "Aluminum" company is only the consequence of it attempt to regain credibility after the stupid break-in in the Hercegovacka Bank, Toby Robinson is feeding them additional arguments. Her behavior is obviously directly affected by the chaotic policies of the international community regarding the rebellion of Hercegovina hardliners. On the one hand, the OHR with its attack on the Hercegovacka Bank, wanted to control them, with possibility of potential blackmail, and on the other hand, not only was this "piggy bank" kicked out of their hands and broken, but they also fell in the trap of backing up Miro Brajkovic, the key financial supporter of the Croat autonomy. The role of Toby Robinson in this farce is insignificant, but precisely because of that the decisions she makes have the appearance of the execution of the dirtiest possible, but definitely not the cheapest, tasks.

Translated on December 26, 2001